First it was soup, then a sandwich, and now pizza that is said to have been thrown at United boss Alex Ferguson, forcing the poor man into a change of clothes before being interviewed on telly. Now the Sun and The Mail say Cole threw pizza at Ruud van Nistelrooy but missed, while The Star says it was Fabregas. Perhaps it was the whole Arsenal team, throwing the whole of their packed lunches.

Other sources have suggested that the incident came about when van Nistelrooy and then Ferguson went into the Arsenal dressing room to gloat, and that because they realise their own actions sparked it all, United will not be wanting to press it. That fits with Wenger's approach to the matter, that he didn't see anything untoward and challenging United to make something of it if they think there was anything worth making anything of.

The Sun's alleged witness says "The Arsenal players thought it was hilarious. They were splitting their sides in the dressing room". Now that seems like a wholly appropriate reaction. When people are talking about cheating and aggressive play instead of goals and tactics and the fact that Arsenal are still top of the league and playing the best football around, Arseweb feels that a little bit of food-chucking ought to be reminding us that this is after all just a game.

P.S. Many thanks to Arseblog News Reviews for telling the real story.

Rupe adds...
Ah, maybe that's not the real story after all. Many thanks to an extremely reliable source for providing inside info "from the horses mouth" (but no, not van Nistelrooy) confirming that all this has been a storm in a cup-a-soup. Apparently, neither RvN nor Ferguson entered the Arsenal dressing room, there was "no physical confrontation of any kind between any of the Arsenal and MU players and coaching staff". Van Nistelrooy did not jostle with Wenger and there was "no horseplay" between Fabregas and Fergie. All that happened as far as the playing and coahing staff were involved, was some rather tasty verbals.

Rupe adds again...
Ok, more inside info, slightly contrary to previous (both these come from extremely good sources, who know people who were there - I'll just pass them on and you can make your own minds up).

First, it is said that the 'spread' that utd lay on in the dressing room is second to none so that would rid any doubts as to if or where the food came from (I was only joking about packed lunches, you know).

Second, food and drink were thrown after harsh words in the tunnel and also a minor scuffle. Rooney was hit square on in the face with a pizza and soup and various other items were also thrown. Not necessarily aimed at anyone in particular but Fergie came off worst.

The story about the players finding it hilarious is true but only after the dust had settled on the coach to the airport. The players were too pissed off in the dressing room to laugh at anything but when the Rooney pizza incident was brought up on the coach everyone was in stitches.

So, there you go.